Five Indications of a gospel centered life

It is reported that the ancient church father Tertullian observed, “Just as Jesus was crucified between two thieves, so the gospel is ever crucified between these two errors.”

The two errors that the gospel is forever challenged to avoid is the fallacy of legalism on one side and license on the other. The Apostle Paul declares, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) This proclamation from Paul is the center of the gospel.

"The two errors that the gospel is forever challenged to avoid is the fallacy of legalism on one side and license on the other."

The pitfalls of 21^st century Christianity often lead us to think in terms of our ability to rescue ourselves from the depravity of our sin. I recall seeing a picture once depicting the artist’s view of sin and salvation. It pictured people drowning in the sea, while others were standing on the pier throwing out gospel ‘life-lines’. Although I am sure the artist’s intentions were noble, this is a false picture of the gospel. Before Christ we are not drowning in the sea of sin, but we have already drown. Colossians 2:13 says, “And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” The clear picture that the Scripture gives us is that we aren’t in need of someone to throw us a life preserver we need someone to be a life giver. Jesus is the life giver. Consider His words in John 5:25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” 

"Legalism and license often mischaracterizes the message of grace, but in Christ we are called to avoid both these errors."

Legalism and license often mischaracterizes the message of grace, but in Christ we are called to avoid both these errors. As Timothy Keller describes in Center Church, “These two errors constantly seek to corrupt the message and steal away from us the power of the gospel. Legalism says that we have to live a holy, good life in order to be saved. Antinomianism (license) says that because we are saved, we don’t have to live a holy, good life.”

 Living a gospel-centered life requires intentionality. We do not naturally embrace the gospel, but rather we will always gravitate towards the fringes of error if not checked daily by the Holy Spirit. Here are five helpful indicators of the gospel-centered life.

1. Jesus is the center of your salvation experience. Error can creep into our lives when we don’t acknowledge that our salvation is dependent on Christ alone. For example sometimes when people share their testimony, they are quick to point out all that they have done, or experienced, or ‘truth’ that they have discovered. This points to humanity as the hero of salvation and not Christ. The Bible gives us a very different picture of Christ in Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”
2. Feelings do not dictate your relationship with God. Often those who embrace legalism or license live lives overly reliant upon emotions. When we live lives based upon how we feel, we often seek out escape that can lead to license, where we commit sin in order to feel better. Or we become overly reliant on spiritual emotional experiences in an effort to recapture a sense of being accepted by God. When the truth is that God accepts us regardless of how we feel. There is nothing that we can do to make God love us any less or anymore. He just loves us period. We live by faith and not by feelings.
3. You are more concerned with growing in Christ than in pointing out the shortcomings of others. A symptom of salvation insecurity is that the shortcomings of others become the subject of much of your conversation and focus. Whereas those who have been centered in the gospel, understand that the closer that they get to Christ the more sin is reveled leading us to live lives of continual repentance and yielding to the conforming work of the Holy Spirit.
4. You are overwhelmed with a constant desire to worship Jesus. When we truly understand the gospel and the impact upon us, we understand that all of our lives serve the purpose of worship. The secular-sacred divide disappears, and we understand that all of our lives are sacred, separated to serve the glory of God and the benefit of people.
5. It is all about Jesus. When are lives become gospel-centered, everything that we do is all about lifting up Jesus. We talk about Him, we praise Him, we live for Him, and we see all of life through Him. 

"There is one body and one spirit just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."-Ephesians 4:4-6